Broncos’ perspective:
QB’s suspension will be over long before Pats come to Denver.
Brady will be back in plenty of time to face Denver.
Tom Brady. Suspended. Again.
A federal appeals court Monday ruled that the Patriots quarterback must serve a four-game suspension in the Deflategate case, siding with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in overturning a lower judge’s earlier ruling. Judge Richard Berman ruled in September that Brady would not have to serve his suspension for his role in the Patriots’ use of underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game in January 2015.
The reversal by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, if upheld, will force Brady to miss the Patriots’ first four games — against the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans and Bills — and lose approximately $235,000 in salary with his reworked contract. He is eligible to return against the Browns on Oct. 9, 10 weeks before the Patriots’ meeting with the Broncos in Denver on Dec. 18.
Broncos running back C.J. Anderson, who had kind words for Brady after the AFC championship game this past January, thought little of the latest ruling.
“He’s not sweating it, man,” Anderson said Monday. “He went through it last year. He’ll be fine. We play him Week 15, so I’m going to get to play him again and say some nice words to him again.”
Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware was of the same mind.
“Somebody asked me about Brady probably not playing four games because of the suspension and I said, ‘We play them in the 15th game, and he’s going to be here,’ ” Ware said. “So we have to make sure we get ready for Brady in the 15th (game).”
The strongest reaction to the ruling came from Tyler Polumbus, a former Broncos and Colorado Buffaloes offensive tackle who retired from the NFL this month. Polumbus didn’t curb his indignation of the Patriots and the league’s handling of Deflategate, going so far as to liken the team to Major League Baseball’s steroid saga.
“Deflategate’s back!” Polumbus tweeted. “Patriots are NFL’s version of baseball’s steroid era. Should be total black eye. Instead, coddled & hidden 4 good play.”